Features

Hot trout tips

The dog days of summer have arrived, and that means staying on the water for 12 hours to limit out on speckled trout is about as much fun as hitting your thumb with a hammer. Twice.[…]

Features

Dog days specks

Mother Nature typically cranks up the furnace on high this month, enveloping the state in a sticky, humid sauna that practically leaves anglers begging for the first cool fronts of fall.[…]

Fishing Hotspots

Three keys for Shell Beach specks

Capt. Johnny Nunez, AKA the Fishing Magician (504-239-3159), was born and raised in Shell Beach and has spent his life pulling fish of every kind from the surrounding waters. When Nunez speaks, fishermen listen — and he told me the keys to speckled trout success this month are rocks, reefs and rigs.[…]

Field Notes

Sight-fishing support

If Matrix Shad lure owner Chas Champagne is cruising through marsh and duck ponds sight-fishing for reds — but doesn’t actually spot any fish — he’s typically keeping a close eye out for two other reliable indicators of reds in the neighborhood.[…]

Inshore Fishing

Back in the day

Jeb and Tina Ard weren’t always catch-and-release, fish-for-fun anglers. Early in their marriage, the couple, both 43, fished for food. Especially for Jeb, fishing meant eating.[…]

Inshore Fishing

Tippets

Early July should be great surf fishing for speckled trout. Try poppers starting at first light. An hour after the sun rises, switch to Clouser Minnows or other baitfish patterns. An intermediate or sink tip line will help get the fly down in the trough areas where the larger trout are feeding.[…]